Strong and Steady

“They actually leave the house?” Thor sounded very eager for the idea. Toddlers were insane and exhausting, and he was probably questioning his reasons for having them in the first place right about now.

I patted him reassuringly on his sweaty arm, the muscle beneath my palm rock hard. “They do, but it’s hard now that he’s gone. My job is done.” I tried to keep my voice light, but I’m sure it sounded wistful.

“Where does he go to school?” Gray questioned.

“Naval Academy.”

“Very impressive,” Thor added. “You must be really proud of him. Look, I’ve got to go, or Laura will bury me in the backyard. I’ll catch up with you guys later?”

Both Gray and I nodded, and Thor jogged off.

People were packing up and leaving, the two of us almost the only ones left on the field from the game. “So…” I let the word hang as I glanced up at him, unsure of myself, of standing in the middle of an empty field with him. Had it been a bad idea to come after all? “Do…do you still want me to go with you?”

He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

I looked down at my bright pink toenails, swiped my foot over the blades of grass. “I’m a mother.”

Leaning down, he looked me in the eye, and I had to meet his steady gaze. “From what I gather, a pretty good one.”

The compliment made me smile although somewhat shyly. I had to know where he stood because I could walk away now with only a dent in my pride. I knew if I spent much time with him, there was a chance I could be truly hurt. “That’s not going to change. Being a mother, I mean. Does that bother you?”

“If you said you had a five-year-old, it might. Not because of the reasons you think.”

I lifted my chin, waiting. I’d wanted honesty.

“I had a shi—bad childhood, and I’m not a good bet for little kids. I’d break them or damage them mentally. Something. But if your boy is at the Naval Academy, he sounds more like a man to me. I doubt I can ruin someone that old.”

Those weren’t the words I expected. Too much baggage, too much effort for someone else’s kids, perhaps. Lots of possibilities. But I never thought he'd say he was flawed, damaged enough that he wasn’t worthy. To me, from the little bit I knew about him, that didn’t seem possible.

The conversation had gotten heavy pretty fast, so I just nodded and moved on. “You can say swear words. I promise I won’t make you wash your mouth out.”

He grinned. “I’ll try, but I’m a country boy at heart.”

“Just don’t ma’am me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I laughed, as he’d probably wanted, and I changed the subject. “I didn’t know you and Simon knew each other. From where?”

He looked at me suspiciously. “You really don’t know, do you?”

I felt like I was missing the punch line of a joke. “Know what?” Then it came to me. Oh shit. I backed up a step, realizing my gaffe and pasted on a fake smile. “Oh. You’re gay. Why didn’t you tell me you were gay? It doesn’t bother me, if you were afraid to tell me. I mean—”

“Emory,” he cut in, shaking his head, hand up. I think he actually rolled his eyes at me. “I’m not gay.”

I sighed in relief. Not that I cared if he was gay, but I didn’t want him to be gay. I wanted him to like women, preferably me.

“I’ve never met Simon before, but he knows me. Knows of me. I’m well known in the MMA community.” When I frowned once again, he added, “That’s Mixed Martial Arts. I’m sure you’ve seen it before on TV or a commercial or something. I did that professionally a while ago and won some big fights. I’ve retired from fighting now.”

I cocked my head and looked at him, thinking maybe I’d recognize him or something, but I didn’t follow the fight scene, and I would have remembered him before. “Are you saying you’re famous?”

He ran his hand over the back of his neck. Clearly being famous wasn’t something he wanted to share with me. “Sort of, but not that famous if you haven’t heard of me.”

“I don’t even know your last name.”

“Green. Grayson Green. But everyone knows me as The Outlaw.”

I frowned. “The Outlaw? Not The Cowboy?” I looked him over. He wasn’t wearing that sexy snap shirt today but still. Damn fine in shorts and t-shirt. “That would totally work.”